Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, 1888

1888

Childe Hassam American, 1859-1935

On View

American, Level 2, West Wing

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

Two plumes of white steam rise from an unseen boat on the river Seine, signs of modern life juxtaposed with the Gothic towers of the thirteenth-century cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. The artist observed the scene from the Left Bank of the river, punctuating the gray tones of the overcast day with flashes of bold color. The red jacket worn by a child walking along the river, bright white clouds reflected in puddles of water gathered in the gutter, and daubs of green for the gardens in front of the western facade of the cathedral guide a viewer through the mundane and monumental details of the scene.

The Massachusetts artist Childe Hassam painted this canvas during an extended period working and studying in France from 1886 to 1889. An accomplished academic painter when he arrived in Paris, he spent his time there absorbing a modern impressionist style for works like this.

Title Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, 1888

Artwork Date 1888

Artist Childe Hassam

Life Dates 1859-1935

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. American

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 17 1/2 × 21 1/2 inches (44.5 × 54.6 cm) Framed: 29 3/4 × 34 × 3 1/2 inches (75.6 × 86.4 × 8.9 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department American Art before 1950

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 79.143

Markings

Signed Signed and dated, lower left: Childe Hassam, 1888

Inscriptions Inscribed, on reverse: oval canvas stamp on original unlined canvas which reads: COULERS...?...TOILES A PEINDRE | TABLEAUX | REY + ---?--- | PARIS 61, RUE DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD Inscribed, on torn paper glued to the back of stretcher: WIL..?...FINE ARTS..?...DETROIT, MICH.

Provenance

1888-1890s, Childe Hassam;
1890s-1979, The Detroit Club;
1979-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Shaw, Nancy Rivard. "Curatorial Reports--American Art." Bulletin of the DIA 58, 4 (1980): pp. 184-185 (fig. 10).

Childe Hassam, American Impressionist. Exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2004.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Childe Hassam, Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, 1888, 1888, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, 79.143.